New Year's Promise
by MintLeafeon
Summary: "That's! What! You! Get! For! Choosing! The! Tower! Of! Terror!" / "There shall be four more surprises coming into your life soon. Be prepared to give them your heart as well as your love if you are to succeed." Happy New Years everyone!


**New Year's Promise**

**Summary:** I still can't believe they have carnivals even in Japan. That's! What! You! Get! For! Choosing! The! Tower! Of! Terror! There shall be four more surprises coming into your life soon. Be prepared to give them your heart as well as your love if you are to succeed.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Prince of Tennis. I only own the OCs used in the fanfiction. Happy New Years Everyone!

**Word Count:** 6820 (**I will be restarting the word count on Valentine's Day, as I do have something planned for the next year of holidays. Hope to see you then!)**

* * *

><p>"Come on! Let's go!" Eiji yelled pulling Oishi and Ryoma by the wrists into the area they had just walked into.<p>

"It may be New Year's Eve senpai but calm down!" Momo yelled out happily as he threw an arm around Ann's shoulder.

New Year's Eve was a day for fun and festivals as well as the new start of the year. Currently, the Seigaku team was going to a New Year's Eve Carnival, suggestion of Eiji and Momo, for the night along with Momo's current girlfriend, Ann Tachibana.

Ryoma just shook his head as he was dragged around by his senpai into the carnival. "I still can't believe they have carnivals even in Japan," he commented as he looked around seeing the many game booths and carnival rides.

He would have just spent the day at home, but Nanako was spending the New Year's holiday with her boyfriend and his parents decided to extend their vacation over the New Year's holiday as well leaving him to be alone with Tezuka. Then Eiji popped up out of nowhere in the afternoon and decided to take everyone to the carnival that was being held in town.

"Come on Ochibi!" Eiji yelled letting go of Oishi and glomping Ryoma around the shoulders. "Let's go to that one!" he yelled pointing at something.

Everyone took a look in the direction Eiji pointed and raised an eyebrow at the choice.

"Really Kikumaru-senpai? A dunk tank?" Ryoma questioned staring as several people tried to knock a clown down into the water.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Eiji yelled letting go of the younger boy and dragging everyone over to the line.

"Let's let Ochibi go first!" Eiji yelled pushing the boy in front of him as they finally got to the beginning of the line.

Ryoma sighed before nodding his head in reluctant agreement and getting three hacky-sacks to knock the clown down.

Taking a serving stance, Ryoma placed the sack in his right hand as he raised his left arm above his head as if he was doing a twist serve. As soon as he threw the sack forward, the object flew forward before hitting the bar of the plate.

"Come on Echizen! Knock him down!" Momo yelled out happily as Ryoma wasn't able to knock the clown down the second time.

Ryoma narrowed his eyes as the target plate before trying it one more time. Using more force than before, he threw the sack forward and successfully dunked the clown.

The clown was so surprised that he flailed around in the water as he didn't expect anyone to actually be able to knock him down into the water. With all the flailing around in the tank, the water splashed everywhere causing shivers to go through everyone's spines as they made contact with the freezing cold water.

"That's cold!" Momo yelled out wrapping his arms around himself trying to warm up.

"No kidding Momoshiri," Kaidoh hissed as he just rubbed his arms slightly where the water splashed on him. He would not shiver like the idiot of a rival he had.

"What did you say Mamushi? Do you wanna fight?" Momo said about to get in the other's face until a clipboard made its way in between the two.

"Calm down you two idiots. This is a carnival, not a fighting arena," a familiar voice said startling the rest of the group.

Turning to take a look at the newcomer, they stared in surprise as they saw a brown-haired girl in a bright red dress along with orange shoes and an orange choker around her neck along with a yellow hairpiece that tied her hair in two ponytails to the side.

"Hanako?" several questioned seeing the girl.

"It seems you finally recognize me on sight and in voice," Hanako said with a small smile on her face. "I'm in charge of taking photos as well as making sure that everything is going well. My uncle is the one that runs this carnival," she said with a sheepish smile on her face as she mentioned this fact. "Why he opened a carnival, I'll never know. But I do admit that it is fun to be here."

"Any suggestions for anything we can do?" Ann asked chuckling as everyone was still trying to warm up from the freezing water.

"You can probably try the games. They are pretty fun to try and beat. Especially the knock-down games or the target games. Don't forget the food courts as well as the rides that we set up. Those ones are fun too," Hanako said listing off a couple of suggestions. "Oh! Before I go, I must insist that you go on the Ferris wheel! It's lovely and if you are at the top, you'll see the New Year's fireworks!"

"Thanks for the suggestions!" Ann yelled out waving a goodbye as Hanako left to take care of some other things for the carnival.

"So what should we do first?" Oishi asked after prying Eiji off of Ryoma once again.

One of the men in charge of the booth handed Ryoma a toy prize which was a plushie form of an orange fox with a red-tipped tail.

"Let's go on that one!" Momo yelled pointing at a large tower that had a short line.

"That one?" Tezuka questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Why?" Fuji asked as he stared at the ride.

"Oh that one," Ryoma drawled out with a small smirk as he remembered that specific ride from America. "Let's go on that one senpai," he encouraged with a glance toward them as he started walking forward.

* * *

><p>"Will all ten of you be riding at the same time?" the person in charged asked as they walked up.<p>

"Yes. Will that be alright?" Tezuka asked politely. He didn't want the group to be separated after all, it would waste more time than necessary for them all.

The man smiled in response before saying, "Of course you can. You are just in luck that the first group is getting off now. There is plenty of room for all ten of you." He gestured for them to go over and seat themselves in the several seats on the movable portion of the ride. "Make sure to keep your hands and feet away from the tower kids," he said walking over to the control panel before turning the machine on.

As soon as it started, the ride suddenly shot up to the top scaring the living daylights out of several people.

"Oh dear god!" Momo yelled clutching onto the metal bar around him for dear life as the ride continued to shoot up and down the tower at varying speeds.

"That's! What! You! Get! For! Choosing! The! Tower! Of! Terror!" Ryoma yelled with each word being emphasized by the ride shooting up or down each and every time.

"I didn't think it would be like this!" Momo yelled out as he heard several other people screaming from the excitement.

Kawamura was just clutching onto the metal bars with a scared expression on his face. Inui and Fuji had amused expressions on their faces as they watched everyone screaming on the ride. With a smirk on his face, Ryoma kept staring at the screamers on the ride from Seigaku, namely Ann, Momo, Eiji, and Oishi – the first yelling from excitement, the second two yelling from the fear of dropping so quickly, and the third from the worry that someone would get hurt. Glancing over at the captain, Ryoma noticed that he had the same stern expression on his face, but due to the fact that Ryoma knew him so well, Ryoma could tell that the other was having a bit of fun on the ride from the microscopic twinkle in his eyes.

"Ah!" several kept yelling interrupting Ryoma from his thoughts.

Shrugging, Ryoma just decided to scream for the hell of it and freak out his scare-able senpais even more.

* * *

><p>"So what should we do next?" Ryoma chuckled out as several of the regulars were still wobbling on their legs from the Tower of Terror ride they had just finished. Because there wasn't a line for a bit, the man in charge kept the ride going for longer than usual until the next group of people showed up.<p>

"Let's get some food!" Eiji and Momo yelled much to the amusement of several as the two were always thinking about food.

"Like what exactly?" Kawamura asked a bit shyly as he grabbed onto a nearby bench to steady his legs.

"I want some popcorn," Ann said with a giggle as she stared as the rest finally got the feeling back into their legs.

"Alright then. Let's go," Fuji said with a sweet smile on his face as he led the way to the nearest food stand that had popcorn.

"Wait for us senpai!" Momo yelled as everyone caught up to the brunette.

"Hello children," someone said interrupting everyone and stopping them on the spot.

Turning toward the source of the voice, they all noticed a grey-haired woman in a purple star-patterned cloak sitting at a table with an orb in a stand on top of the table which had a midnight blue tablecloth covering it.

"Hello?" Fuji questioned staring at the woman with a calculating gaze at the female.

The woman seemed to give a smile underneath the hood she wore over her head that hid her eyes. Raising a hand, she pointed at Ryoma before saying, "Will you please come here. I have something interesting to tell you."

Ryoma shrugged before stepping forward while hearing his fiancé whisper, "Don't let your guard down." Smiling at the obvious concern, he walked over to the table and stared at the other.

The others stood nearby to hear what the lady was going to stay and to make sure nothing funny happened to their freshman friend.

The lady hummed before staring at the boy in the eyes from her perspective as he couldn't see hers. Her smile widened before she started talking. "You are one who will find many loves in life other than your hobby. There shall be four more surprises coming into your life soon. Be prepared to give them your heart as well as your love if you are to succeed."

Ryoma was confused but nodded at the warning anyway. She was nice enough to not charge him anything for the fortune, so he might as well take it seriously.

"You may be on your way now child," the woman said waving him off with that smile on her face. "Good luck," she said as he walked back to his group.

Nodding at the encouragement, Ryoma waved back slightly to show that he acknowledged her words.

"Let's get some popcorn then!" Momo yelled disrupting the mood immediately as he headed off happily toward the nearby popcorn stand.

* * *

><p>"Would you kids like to try this game?" several people yelled as they continued walking around the carnival grounds. It seemed as if each of the people in charge of game booths was yelling over the other to get attention to themselves and bring people into their game.<p>

They heard laughter coming from older booth headers as if this was a regular occurrence with them as it should be.

The group of ten continued to walk around with snacks in hand until they noticed a booth with a quiet person in charge that was not yelling like the rest. In fact, the female seemed quite shy to be here. She was talking with someone else at the booth and seemed to be blushing at the words being said.

Walking over, they noticed that the female in charge was talking to Hanako.

"Oh come on cousin. I know it's your first time opening a booth in the carnival, but you've been with uncle for the past few years. You should know how to attract customers by now at least," Hanako said with a sheepish yet encouraging smile on her face as she stared at the other.

Taking a closer look, the tennis players noted that the girl had hidden herself in a cloak that only showed her eyes as her hair was tucked into the hood she wore. Her eyes were bright blue and seemed to be frightened at all the people walking around.

"Hello again Hanako," Tezuka greeted as he led the group over to the booth.

Hanako turned to them lightning quick before saying, "Ah! Hello again everyone! Everyone, this is my cousin Chi. She's pretty shy, but she's been with the carnival for years, so I don't understand why she doesn't seem to be able to get customers on her own without other's help."

"Are you nervous?" Fuji asked kneeling a bit in front of the booth to look into the girl's eyes.

The girl seemed to nod slightly before Fuji opened his eyes to allow the girl to see the blue orbs he hid underneath his eyelids.

Seemingly shocked by the color, the girl continued to stare until she asked, "Would you like to try my booth?"

Fuji closed his eyes happily before standing back up and saying, "I would be honored to."

The girl smiled happily before grabbing two balls and handing them over while explaining her booth. "The goal is to knock down all five of those bottles," she pointed at the bottles stacked on top of each other in a pyramid shape on the table a few feet away from where the entire group was standing, "with only those two balls. Good luck."

Fuji nodded before throwing one ball and knocking down two of the bottles from the left side.

"You can do it Fuji!" Eiji yelled in support for his friend as he hung from Oishi's shoulders in a hug.

Fuji smiled back before throwing the second one and knocking another two down with the last one wobbling.

"Come on, come on," Momo whispered as he hoped for the last one to fall.

After waiting for several seconds, the bottle seemed to right itself up instead of falling much to the disappointment of those watching.

"That's too bad," Chi said with a small smile of apology as she went to set up the bottles again in their places.

"Can I try?" she heard from behind her and turned to see a young boy coming up to the booth with his parents following behind him. "It looks fun!" the boy yelled happily as he came up to the booth only to notice that he wasn't tall enough to reach over the booth.

Chi just laughed before walking over and grabbing something on her side of the booth before setting it next to the boy. Looking up at the regulars, she said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Fuji said as he led the group away from the booth as more people started to come over.

"What was that about?" Ryoma asked the smiling tensai as they continued to walk.

Fuji looked over at him with a smile before explaining. "Her booth wasn't doing well because of the fact that no one was playing it at the moment. With me playing it, and everyone else supporting and making noises during the game, it attracted people to the booth to watch as the bottle was wobbling. With our help-"

"Her booth is a success!" Hanako yelled interrupting Fuji and popping up from right in front of the group.

"Whoa!" Ryoma said as he stepped back right into Tezuka's arms which wrapped around his shoulders loosely.

"Sorry Echizen-kun, but I have something for Fuji-kun," she said with an apologetic smile. "My cousin wants to give you this as thanks for helping her booth," she said handing Fuji a bag with two objects inside. "Hope you enjoy the carnival!" she yelled rushing off to do more work.

Fuji opened the bag to see a plushie along with a book inside of the bag. The plushie was a large version of a hummingbird with the book being about the different types of birds. "Well isn't that nice," he said showing them to the rest of the group before putting them back in the bag to carry around.

"It is," Ryoma said with a small nod of his head.

* * *

><p>"Let's go on that ride," Ryoma suggested pointing at a large ride with a roulette-like board in the center of the ride that was able to move around.<p>

"What's that one called?" Oishi asked as they got in line for the ride.

"Casino," he answered as a large group of people made it onto the line allowing his own group to move to the near front of the line for the next ride.

"Oh? Is it because of the roulette board in the ride?" Inui questioned taking out his notebook.

Okay…how did he not lose that yet? They've been walking for hours here!

"Yes it's because of the roulette board in the center of the ride," Ryoma said shaking his head slightly. It was obvious wasn't it? The reason for the name of the ride? "It's a Tilt-A-Whirl ride."

"Hey! Our turn!" Momo yelled rushing forward and grabbing a seat with Ann next to him.

The others chuckled at his behavior before choosing their seats on the Casino. Everyone was able to fit three to a seat so the seating arrangements were kind of like this: Tezuka, Ryoma, and Fuji in one seat; Momo, Ann, and Kawamura in another; Inui, Kaidoh and a random person in another seat with Oishi, Eiji, and yet another stranger in the last seat as there were other people that had grabbed seats before them.

"Make sure to keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times folks, so enjoy the ride!" the person in charge yelled before she started the ride to move.

As soon as it turned on, the roulette started spinning in place before raising one side to go diagonally as the ride continued to spin.

"Yahoo!" Momo yelled as the thing started to spin faster and faster with Ann laughing next to him.

"Calm down Momo!" Oishi yelled from the seat behind the said person as the ride spun faster and faster until the surrounding area was a sort of blur for everyone.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" the spectators on the ground heard as several people kept screaming as they spun around and around and around the ring.

"Ah! My prize!" a young girl yelled as she saw her toy prized stuffed bear fly out of her hands somewhere.

"Bah!" Oishi yelled as the toy suddenly ended up in his face.

Eiji laughed as he gently grabbed the toy from Oishi's face and held it tight as he heard someone yelling for their toy earlier. "Some girl lost it Oishi, let's hold it for her."

"Right Eiji," Oishi said as he rubbed his face slightly before wrapping one arm around Eiji's shoulder as the ride continued at the constant speed before finally slowing down enough for the ride to lower to the ground and allow everyone off.

So many people from the ride were so dizzy that they collapsed to their knees as soon as they touched the ground.

"My toy mom! My toy! My toy flew out of my hands!" everyone heard a young girl crying out loud.

Many looked sympathetically over to the girl but watched as two teenage boys, namely Oishi and Eiji, walked over and tapped the girl on the shoulder gently.

When the girl turned around, she sniffled before she gave a wide grin at what she saw being held out to her. "My bear!" she yelled happily before taking her stuffed animal out of Eiji's hands and smiling at him. "Thank you very much!"

"Thank you both. I'm grateful you made my girl smile again," the mother said with a gentle smile before turning to the girl and saying, "Let's get something to eat."

"Yay!" the girl replied as her mother led her away.

"That was nice of you Kikumaru-senpai," Momo said wobbling over to the two.

"It's New Year's Day! No one should be sad!" Eiji yelled out with excitement.

"That's true," Tezuka said nodding in agreement. "It is the start of a new year after all, and it's a holiday."

"Let's get going then. I found another thing I want to try out," Ann said pulling on Momo's arm toward another area.

* * *

><p>"A fun house?" Ryoma questioned his fiancé as they were walking around. There were at least ten paths in the fun house and every couple had chosen a different path to take. "She really chose a fun house?"<p>

Tezuka just chuckled at the pouty expression on his love's face. Wrapping an arm around the other's shoulder, he said, "I'll take you to whatever you want to go next then Ryoma."

"Thank you Mitsu," Ryoma said leaning into the touch

They kept walking past the several closed doors not even trying to open them after the first one they opened. The first door scared them both enough. As soon as they had opened the door, a clown popped out from it with a demented mask on its face before screaming with its eyes popping out of its head before popping back into the room with the door closing behind it. It was safe to say that they weren't going to open any more doors in the fun house…

They had passed by several moving statues and even a mirror room. The mirror room wasn't all that bad though.

"This is so weird," Ryoma commented as he stood in front of the weird mirror. It was enough that he was already short enough without anything done to him, but the mirror in front of him made him look even shorter and chubbier.

"Same with my mirror," Tezuka commented getting Ryoma to glance at his mirror.

Glancing at the mirror, Ryoma couldn't help but nearly laugh out loud. It made Tezuka taller sure, but it also made him a lot chubbier in the mirror.

Not being able to hold it in, Ryoma laughed aloud while saying in between laughs, "You look like a sumo wrestler!"

"Enough," Tezuka said chuckling a bit as he did see what Ryoma was talking about with the mirror. Leading Ryoma out of the room, they decided to keep walking out the hallway to the end of the fun house. "Let's go do something you would like then," Tezuka said trying to get Ryoma's mind off of the mirror room at the moment.

Ryoma chuckled before leaning into Tezuka's side again before snapping his eyes open. "Did you hear that?"

"It must be your imagination," Tezuka said since he didn't hear anything out of the ordinary.

"I swear I heard something though," Ryoma insisted before turning his head around to stare behind him.

"It's a fun house. There is bound to be something making noise," Tezuka said trying to reason and calm his love down even if it was a bit funny to watch his love panic over something he couldn't even hear at the moment.

"But-WHOA!" Ryoma said ducking under something that passed by. "That's definitely not supposed to be in a fun house!" he yelled staring as the thing crashed into the wall.

Tezuka widened his eyes slightly at the bloody knife that had embedded itself into the wall in front of them. "Maybe you were right…"

"Maybe? That knife says otherwise!" Ryoma yelled out already freaked out that he had nearly been killed. "Let's get out of here!"

"You aren't going anywhere," a voice drawled out creepily with a sinister tone as several spiders dropped in front of the two.

"Ah!" Ryoma shrieked a bit in surprise before jumping up and nearly falling down on his head.

"Ryoma!" Tezuka yelled catching the boy in his arms before the other could possibly get hurt. Clutching the boy close to him, Tezuka just started walking toward the end of the hallway they were in while ignoring the several voices and objects in their path.

If he had looked behind him though, he would have noticed someone appearing from behind a curtain with another knife in her hand as she giggled.

"That was fun…and I got to see something cute," the female said with a giggle as she made her way back to the front of the fun house to follow the next group of people.

* * *

><p>As soon as they had made it outside of the fun house, Tezuka gently placed Ryoma back down on the ground as the younger caught his breath.<p>

"Thank you Mitsu," Ryoma said after taking a deep breath.

"That was…quite scary," Tezuka said referring to the knife that was thrown.

"Very," Ryoma sighed before slumping on a nearby bench with Tezuka following him.

Tezuka sat down next to the boy and pulled the other onto his lap before wrapping his arms around the younger boy. "I'm glad that you didn't get hurt though," he whispered to the other.

"I'm glad for that too," Ryoma said snuggling his face into the crook of Tezuka's neck as he relaxed in the other's embrace.

"You think the others are out yet?" Tezuka asked after a few minutes of silence. The others hadn't come out of the fun house yet from what they had seen.

"They probably got out earlier than we did," Ryoma groaned out as he was content just listening to the other's heartbeat as they sat there on the bench.

"Why don't we go to another booth while we wait for the others to show up? We did set the fountain in the middle of the carnival as the meeting point after all," Tezuka suggested ruffling Ryoma's hair slightly.

"Like what? What booth do you have in mind Mitsu," Ryoma said fixing his hair with one hand as he leaned back against Tezuka's chest.

"Let's walk around and see what we like first," Mitsu said standing up and carrying Ryoma on his arms where Tezuka had one arm wrapped around Ryoma's lower back and legs with Ryoma wrapping his arms around Tezuka's neck to keep himself from falling off.

"Alright then," Ryoma said leaning his head into the crook of Tezuka's neck as they continued walking.

As they walked, they could sense the several stares they were getting from strangers as they passed by. Every once in a while, they would hear a female giggle before they heard the comment 'cute' being thrown around much to Ryoma's embarrassment.

"I am not cute," he kept mumbling to himself as he kept hearing the comments from the girls.

Tezuka just gave a small smirk before kissing the top of Ryoma's forehead saying, "You are cute to me."

Ryoma's cheeks turned pink much to the joy of the females around who squealed at the cute sight.

"Shut up Mitsu," Ryoma muttered embarrassed before burying his face in the other's neck.

Tezuka chuckled making Ryoma blush further as they continued to walk past the giggling girls and looked around the booths.

* * *

><p>"Why don't we try this one Ryoma?" Tezuka asked the boy who, at the moment, was eating some cotton candy from the last stand they passed while still being in his arms.<p>

"Hmm?" Ryoma questions glancing over at the booth Tezuka stopped in front of. Offering some of the cotton candy to Tezuka, he commented, "Ring Toss? Sounds fun."

After taking a bite of the cotton candy, Tezuka gently placed Ryoma back down on the ground and got six rings in order to play the game six times.

"You go first Ryoma," Tezuka said handing the rings over to Ryoma in exchange for the snack.

Nodding, Ryoma switched the two items before going up and tossing a ring at one of the items on the table. The goal of the game was to get the ring around the neck of the objects anyway.

Unfortunately, the ring bounced off the top of the object he was throwing it at and instead fell down next to it.

Scowling just a bit – more like pouting a bit – he threw a ring again at a different object that was a bit farther than the last one. Instead of hitting the top of the object, it instead landed at the objects' feet.

Ryoma sighed before glancing at the object he wanted and then throwing another ring at it. As soon as it started circling the object, he kept staring at it. However, it didn't work out to his hopes as it circled the object too much and flew off instead and landed around the neck of another prize.

Tezuka just handed Ryoma the cotton candy back after the booth person handed Ryoma the prize the ring rung around. It turned out the actual prize he had gotten was a snow globe that had a forest theme in it and the glitter looked like rain.

"Which one were you trying to get Ryoma?" Tezuka asked taking the last three rings in his hands and stepping up to the booth.

Ryoma just pouted a bit before pointing at the object on the table.

"Ah," Tezuka nodded in acknowledgement. He knew that Ryoma loved bath salts which was one of the reasons Tezuka got Ryoma bath salts for the younger's birthday a week past.

Ryoma watched as Tezuka threw one ring and nearly got the prize. "You don't have to get it for me you know. You can try for something you want," he suggested knowing that Tezuka knew his hobby for trying out new bath salts.

Tezuka just glanced over at Ryoma with a small smile before tossing the second ring and actually getting it around the neck of the five-pack of bath salts that was on the table.

Widening his eyes in surprise, Ryoma watched as the booth person handed Tezuka the pack who then handed the pack to him. Ryoma took the pack in his hands before smiling up at Tezuka and leaning up and pecking Tezuka on the lips as a 'thank you'.

Tezuka returned the gesture by giving Ryoma a smile and kissing the younger's cheek before turning back to the game for his third and final ring. Glancing around the table, he noticed something that he wanted and threw the ring at it hoping that he would get it.

After a few seconds of going around the rim of the object, the ring finally settled down around the neck of whatever Tezuka was aiming for.

"Strange thing you wanted," Ryoma commented walking next to Tezuka as he stared at what Tezuka was now holding from the booth.

Tezuka just shrugged slightly before taking a look at the prize he had won. He had the sudden urge to try and win it for some odd reason that he couldn't understand at the moment. Tezuka had won a pack of drawing supplies complete with a drawing pad, colored pencils, watercolors, as well as pastels.

"What do you want to do next Mitsu?" Ryoma asked looking around the area for the next thing that they two could possibly do at the carnival.

"What about that one?" Tezuka asked leaning down to gently grip Ryoma's shoulder and point in the direction he was looking at.

Turning toward the where Tezuka was pointing, Ryoma glanced over the booth. "That one huh?"

"Is that a no then?" Tezuka questioned straightening up but still keeping his hand on Ryoma's shoulder.

"No, we can go," Ryoma said tugging Tezuka's wrist over to the booth. "This game is called Fish Bowl Toss back in America," Ryoma commented as he stared at the lined up fish bowls on the table with a basket of ping pong balls on the ground next to the table.

"Hello you two," the female in charge greeted. "Would you like to try for a fish?" she asked with a smile as she held up a bag with a black shark fish swimming around inside.

"Yes please," Tezuka said paying for enough ping pong balls to use for four games.

"All you have to do is toss the ping pong ball inside the fish bowl. If it lands in one, you'll get a prize. If it doesn't, then I'm sorry about that," the female explained before stepping back to allow both Tezuka and Ryoma room to play.

"I'll go first," Tezuka said before tossing one of the ping pong balls in and watching as it bounced off the rim of the fish bowl. Frowning just a bit, he tossed in his second one and watched as it bounced around all of the fish bowls' rims.

"One, two, three, four, five, six…" the female kept counting as she watched the ball bounce around. The ping pong ball just wouldn't stop bouncing off of the rims. "When will that thing stop?" she asked as she counted that the ball had bounced at least ten times by now.

Ryoma just kept nodding his head as he kept staring at the ping pong ball. He was moving his head to match what the object was doing until finally, he saw it about to drop down.

"Finally," the female sighed out as the thing finally stopped jumping on the rims. "That's too bad though. If it went in, I would have been surprised," she said with a sheepish smile on her face.

"No harm done," Tezuka replied before stepping back to allow Ryoma some room for his own try at the game.

"Let's see then," Ryoma muttered as he stared at which one would be easier to get for a prize. Shrugging after a few moments, he chose a random fish bowl to try and threw the ping pong at it. He watched as it bounced right off the table and landed on the rim before circling half of it and then falling off onto the other side and then rolling off the table.

"Interesting way to play it," the girl said clapping her hands slightly. "No one has tried bouncing the ping pong in before."

"Oh?" Ryoma questioned before tossing the ping pong again with a little more force.

"Not again!" she groaned as she watched the ping pong ball bounce around on the rims again. Except it wasn't just bouncing on the rims, it was even bouncing off the table! "How hard did you toss that thing?" she asked Ryoma with a shocked look on her face as the ball continued jumping around the table.

Ryoma just shrugged in response as he didn't know how much strength he placed into the toss either. He was just trying to aim for the fish bowl in the middle after all.

"Well I'll be…" the female asked as the ping pong finally dropped. She was surprised though. "You actually somehow made it into a fish bowl. Impressive~," she said drawling out the compliment before handing Ryoma the box with the black shark fish inside. "Have fun with the rest of the carnival!" She waved goodbye as Ryoma and Tezuka walked away from the booth with prizes in hand.

"This is starting to be too much to carry," Ryoma commented referring to the fox plushie, the bath salt package, the black shark fish they just won, and the drawing supply package from earlier.

"We should look for someone who is selling bags," Tezuka commented before pulling Ryoma out of the way of someone who rushed by.

"No need for thanks!" the blur yelled as she ran past them and went on to other portions of the carnival grounds.

"Was that?" Tezuka questioned as first as he helped Ryoma straighten back up.

"Hanako?" Ryoma finished the question while blinking several times. Noticing that the weight in his arms was a bit heavier, he looked down only to say 'Ah!'

"What happened Ryoma?" Tezuka said also looking down and widening his eyes slightly at the new item in Ryoma's hands.

"I swear…how does she know this stuff?" Ryoma asked holding up the new bag into the air with one hand. It was a bright red bag to match with the New Year's theme along with several firework patterns on the bag.

"Either way, it was nice of her to get one for us," Tezuka commented as he helped Ryoma put all of their prizes safely into the bag. There was even a plastic are for the black shark fish to be put it without a chance of accidently popping the bag it was in.

"Who do you think created the bag design?" Ryoma commented as he slung the shoulder strap around him.

"Why do you ask?" Tezuka questioned back.

"Oh come on Mitsu. Someone must have realized something about the prizes people were going to win here. I mean really. Two spots for where plastic bags could be placed for the fish won at the booths we've passed, then a pocket with a netting that could be used for flat objects like the drawing supplies you won earlier, then a major air pocket for the toy prizes here," Ryoma explained. "Isn't that a little weird to come up with ALL of that just for one bag?"

"You know that with Hanako, some crazy things will happen," Tezuka commented with a chuckle as he threw an arm around Ryoma's shoulders and drew the younger boy close to him. "Why don't we go to the fountain then and wait for the others to show up so that we can go on the Ferris wheel that Hanako suggested in the first place?"

"Fine with me," Ryoma said closing his eyes peacefully as he leaned against Tezuka's side happy to be close to the other like this.

* * *

><p>"Well this is relaxing," Ryoma said staring out the window of the car they were in for the ride.<p>

"Very," Tezuka said scooting closer and pulling Ryoma in for a hug. "I wonder what the fireworks will look like from up at the top."

"We were lucky that we got the one that will be at the highest part of the wheel when the fireworks go off," Ryoma commented leaning back into the embrace.

"So. Do you have a New Year's Resolution?" Tezuka asked after a few moments of waiting for their car to reach the top.

"I have one," Ryoma said turning his head over his shoulder to stare right at Tezuka.

"And what would that be?" Tezuka said nuzzling Ryoma's neck gently which made Ryoma giggle at the tickling sensation.

"I'm not telling right now," Ryoma said trying to tease the other. "What about you?"

"I've got one too," Tezuka said before staring out the window. "Ryoma."

"Yes?"

"What do you think of that fortune-teller earlier?" Tezuka asked leaning Ryoma's head against his chest.

"You mean that thing about how four surprises will make it into my life and I have to be prepared to give them my heart and love?" He saw Tezuka nod in response. Humming a bit, Ryoma answered, "I honestly don't know for sure what that lady was talking about. If anything though, we should expect something coming into our lives by the time this year is over. I'm certain of that."

Tezuka smiled before gently palming Ryoma's cheek and laying a kiss of the younger's forehead. "Ryoma?"

"Yes?" Ryoma questioned giving his full attention to Tezuka yet again.

"The fireworks are starting," Tezuka said pointing outside the window.

Ryoma glanced over as a countdown hologram showed up from the fountain and counted down from ten until it reached zero. As soon as the counter reached zero, the fireworks start shooting up into the sky in all sorts of color. Red, blue, purple, green, yellow, pink, orange, any color you could name was up in the sky.

"Amazing," Ryoma heard Tezuka say. Turning around, he widened his eyes as his lips were caught up in a sudden kiss. Ryoma relaxed as he felt Tezuka's arms wrap around him in a hug and pull him into the older's lap.

As soon as the two broke apart from each other, Ryoma just closed his eyes peacefully before leaning against Tezuka's chest.

"Now what was amazing?" Ryoma had to question with a small chuckle.

"You in the firework lights," Tezuka answered bluntly as he gently grabbed Ryoma's chin and made their eyes connect with the others.

Ryoma smirked before nudging his lips against Tezuka's and saying, "You are too cheesy sometimes."

"You still love me," Tezuka said locking their lips together one more time as the fireworks show kept going.

Once they broke apart, Tezuka brought Ryoma in for a hug once more and held him close. "Why don't we say our New Year's Resolutions at once?" he suggested pulling away to be an inch away from Ryoma's face.

"Fair enough," Ryoma said with a loving smile at his lover.

"One," Tezuka started while returning the smile.

"Two," Ryoma continued.

"Three," they both said before they said their resolutions.

"I'll never leave you as long as I live."


End file.
